Trust and Hate
by Angel Weasel-Woman
Summary: AU What if Iruka hadn't acknowledged Naruto at all? Waht if Yashamaru hadn't betrayed Gaara? How would the lives of these two boys differ? What would happen when they met?
1. Naruto

The blonde six-year-old glared across the field at all the other children from his spot on the only wooden swing. Rocking back and forth slightly, Naruto gently placed a hand over his stomach and scowled.

Stupid, he thought at the others. All of you - stupid. Acting like that, just to make me mad. He clenched his fist and stood, walking away. All of you will pay.

In that dark recesses of his mind, Kyuubi snarled before grinning wickedly. This child he was bound in, this child wanted revenge. Wanted something bad to befall his peers.

Well, he could be that "something bad."

* * *

Naruto stalked down the street, pouting at the ground, not paying attention to where he was going. Suddenly, he bumped into something, causing him to fall back onto his rear. Gently, he looked up with soft blue eyes, seeing a man with dark hair and eyes and a scar running across the bridge of his nose.

"I'm sorry," the boy said, pulling himself to his feet.

The man had only stared at him before, but the moment Naruto had spoken, the man had jerked back, a look of utter revulsion entering his eyes. He hissed something at Naruto that he couldn't quite hear before shoving past him, "accidentally" knocking Naruto to the ground again.

The blonde merely bowed his head for a few moments before suddenly standing and bolting off. He didn't care where he was going - just what he was going _from_. Tears rolled down his cheeks and his hair whipped wildly, but he didn't care. No one else cared.

* * *

_Hello, little one…_ came a sudden, sneering voice.

With a gasp, Naruto stumbled over his own feet before crashing to the ground. Tears still falling from his eyes, the child looked around wildly, searching for the voice's owner. Tall trees and wildflowers greeted his vision. He couldn't remember leaving the village, but that didn't mean it didn't happen.

_Stop that!_ the voice commanded. _You will not see me, but _I_ can see _you_._

"Wh… Who are you?" Naruto sniffled.

_I? I am the only one you can trust._

"No I can't. I can't trust anyone. They all hate me!"

_That is not true. _I_ don't hate you. In fact, I can help you get rid of those that hate you._

"Really? You can? How?"

_Just trust in me - only me - and I will make your dreams come true._

"What dreams?"

There was a dark chuckle and then visions began appearing before his eyes of the entire village, destroyed and aflame, bodies littering the ground, most dead and mutilated, others severely wounded and calling out for aid or death. Amidst the blood red sky, feeble cries sounded followed by evil laughter.

When the images had left, Naruto shivered, and bowed his head.

_Well?_ the voice persisted. _All those that hate you - detest and fear you - gone. The village at you feet. That is what I can grant you. Do you accept?_

Naruto sniffled a bit, the thoughts of the village adults sneering, recoiling in disgust - fear. The children laughing and making fun of him, pushing him away when he wanted to play.

"I… I…"

* * *

As the sun began to set behind the Hokage monument, the Academy bell rang, releasing the students into the outside world. Normally, this was a joyous occasion with lots of yelling and laughter, but, as the doors opened, the scent of death billowed inside. And all froze at the sight before them.

Littered on the ground were dozens of bodies, mutilated to the point of being unrecognizable. Blood splashed across the grass and in the midst of it all stood a small, six-year-old boy, his blonde hair stained red. His head was bowed to shade his eyes and his hands were clenched, blood dripping from his fists.

"Naruto," came the horrified gasp from one of the teachers. "What did you do?"

The child chuckled darkly, lifting his head to show eyes as crimson as the blood that splattered his body and cat-like.

"_Who are you talking to? I am not Naruto._"

* * *

Wow. I managed to turn kawaii-chibi-Naruto into Blood-thirsty-Naru. Yay, blood!

Nine: -blinks at her- Why am I not mentioned?

Angel: Because you would hurt me if I made you the bitch, even for the sake of fanfiction.

Nine: -considers this; nods- True

Angel: -sticks tongue out at her- I don't own Naruto, so, till next time!


	2. Gaara

The child peered over at the group of children before whim, watching them play together. Shaking the crimson hair from his eyes, Gaara gulped nervously before taking a few small steps towards the group. 

"Hey," he called softly, catching their attention. With a nervous smile, he cast his green eyes to the ground and continued, "Can I play too?" 

Nervous glances were cast between the children before a boy stepped forward and said with a sneer, "You ask us that every day, so you should know the answer by now, _monster_." 

Without waiting for the six-year-old to respond, the group ran off, leaving Gaara to stare the ground, an embarrassed flush coloring his cheeks. 

* * *

"Yashamaru-san," Gaara called, stepping into the house and turning to face the door as he closed it. "I'm home." 

The young man looked up and noticed, when Gaara turned around, the tears that the boy refused to let fall. 

"Gaara?" he asked, walking up to the child and placing a hand on the top of his head, repressing feelings of revulsion. "What happened? 

Feeling, what he thought was, a comforting tough, Gaara sniffled, tears finally trickling down his cheeks. 

"Why does everyone hate me?" he whimpered softly. 

Yashamaru smiled faintly, kneeling so that he was eye-level with the child, said, "Not everyone hates you. I'm sure there are those that care." 

"L… like you?" 

Yashamaru merely hugged the child, smiling even though it felt as though his flesh was crawling. It was only a moment after that when the door opened and two other children stepped inside. Kankuro blinked sleepily, yawning something that sounded like "Good evening" to Yashamaru. Temari rolled her eyes at her brother before bowing politely. 

"Good evening, Yashamaru-san. Gaa-chan," said the twelve-year old. 

"Good evening, Tamari, Kankuro." Yashamaru let go of Gaara and stood. "You two are late coming in - it's already past your bedtimes." 

Temari nodded but Kankuro whined, saying, "But I'm _ten_. I don't need a bedtime. I -" His rant was cut short as Temari pulled a small fan from her pocket and lightly tapped him on the top of the head. 

"Kankuro, shut-up," she said, putting the fan away and walking to her room, playfully patting Gaara on the top of the head as she passed. 

"Oneesan!" Kankuro cried, running after Temari and running a hand the wrong way through Gaara's hair. "Get back here, you jerk!" 

Yashamaru sighed at the rambunctious pre-teens as he began to follow them. 

"Yashamaru-san?" Gaara said softly. "I'm going up to the roof." 

"All right, Gaara," the man said, not pausing. "Good night." 

"Good night, Yashamaru-san." 

* * *

Gaara whimpered softly, drawing his knees up to his chest. Wiping his eyes on his sleeve, he continued to watch the streets of Sunagakure, unaware of the dark form approaching from behind him. 

Why? The child thought with a sniffle. Why does everyone hate me? What did I do? 

So caught up in his misery, he didn't hear the slow, soft footsteps behind him. 

Nothing. I didn't do anything to make them hate me. They're the ones that call me "monster." They - 

A hand clasped his shoulder. 

With a gasp, Gaara whirled around and his eyes met Temari's emerald orbs. 

"Hey, Gaa-chan," the twelve-year-old said with a soft smile. 

"Tem-chan?" His eyes flicked from her to the ten-year-old beside her. Kan-kun? What are you two doing here?" 

"We got worried," Temari replied. You didn't come into either of our rooms tonight." 

"Oh. I'm sorry, Tem-chan. I was just… just thinking." 

Kankuro smirked before leaning forward and gently wiping a stray tear from Gaara's cheek. The boy blushed and attempted to stammer an explanation as Kankuro said, "Must not be good thoughts." 

Gaara fell silent, Gaara bowed his head and said sadly, "Everyone hates me." 

"Not that's not true," Temari told him, crouching so that she was eye-level with him. Suddenly, she smiled and wrapped her arms about his shoulders, nuzzling her nose into his hair. "I love you, Gaa-chan." 

Kankuro reached down and, good-naturedly pushing Temari's head out of the way, ran his hand the wrong way thought Gaara's hair with a smile of his own, saying, "I love you too, Gaara." 

"C'mon," Temari said, standing and playfully smacking Kankuro. "Let's go inside - Kankuro and I'll stay up with you tonight." 

As Gaara looked at his siblings, his eyes misted over again, overfilling and tears rolled down his cheeks again. With a choked sob, he reached up to wipe his eyes, but the tears continued to fall. 

"Th-they won't… s-stop," he sobbed softly, flushing in embarrassment again. 

Temari merely crooned softly, before giving him a small smile, saying, "Let's go inside, Gaa-chan." 

"Yeah," Kankuro added as they walked to the door. "It's freezing out here - how can you stand it?" 

* * *

Yashamaru mentally cursed when he noticed Temari and Kankuro approach Gaara. He was certain that he would have been able to take Gaara out if he were alone, but Yashamaru didn't was to risk fighting with either, let alone _both_, of the boy's siblings. 

Stealing away into the shadows, he prepared himself to face the Kazekage's wrath when he told him that he had aborted the assassination strike. 

* * *

Temari's yawn was cut off mid-way with a laugh as Kankuro playfully tackled Gaara and attacked him with tickles. Rubbing her eyes, she took a drink from her Diet Coke (she had to watch her figure after-all.) and waited for the mixture of sugar and caffeine to get to work. 

True to her word, she and Kankuro had stayed up all night, drinking sodas, telling stories, watching TV and playing games. At around three, Gaara and Kankuro had started playing chess - the English equivalent of shogi. Of course, none of the siblings knew how to play and so had made up all sorts of crazy rules including that the winner had to be tickled by the looser - thus why the two boys were squealing and laughing on the floor. 

Through her slightly hyper mind, something clicked in Temari's thoughts and - when Kankuro had decided to take pity on Gaara and let him go - asked her youngest sibling, "Gaa-chan? That sand of yours is supposed to protect you from _all_ attacks, right?" The boy, still smiling and slightly flushed, nodded. "Well, then why is it letting us get close?" 

Gaara paused and thought for a moment before saying, "Well, Yashamaru-san said that the sand protects me because it loves me. I guess I allows you to touch me because, well -" he turned to his siblings and smiled " - I love you both." 

* * *

Aww, kawaii. -runs out and kidnaps chibi-Gaara; cuddles him- 

Kakashi: -glares at chibi-Gaara who's looking both confused and scared- 

Nine: -notices this- You're jealous, aren't you? 

Kakashi: No. -blush- 

Angel: Aww. -sits in his lap- Me sill love you - Chibi-Gaara's just adorable! -coos over Gaara- 

C-Gaara: -is now scarred for life- 

Angel: -is ignoring that; gets to fic- Wow. I gots reviews! -is happy- And for all of you begging for another chapter - here you go! And also, for the pairings, I'm not _exactly_ sure what I'm going to be doing with this, but when I do figure something out, I'll probably wind up having a poll of some kind for you - so look for that. I can't really think of anything else so… Naruto! You do the disclaimer. 

Naruto: Why me? 

Angel: You haven't said anything. 

Naruto: Neither has Gaara. 

Angel: He's adorable - so you do it. 

Naruto: -grumblegrumble- Angel doesn't own Naruto and never will - thank God! -gets stuff thrown at him- 

Angel: -decides to ignore Naruto now- So, Till next time!


End file.
